Five Ways To Retain Top Talent And Keep Employees Happy

With the Society of Human Resource Management estimating that the cost of replacing an employee is the equivalent of six to eight months’ salary – a figure that can run into the tens of thousands of dollars – the importance of employee retention programs has become even more evident. In particular, keeping hold of talented and conscientious employees can be the difference between your business flourishing or being left behind.

Hard working, quick-thinking and skillful individuals can leave a big space when they quit from your company, and replacing them is no easy task. Sometimes, this is just an unavoidable eventuality (for example if they are moving to a distant location, or want to become a full-time parent) but for the most part, whether an employee stays within your business or moves on is within your control. Here are the steps you can take to retain top talent and keep your employees happy.

Foster A Low-Stress Environment

One of the biggest reasons why people leave companies is due to poor management. Dealing with a manager who is rude, overly demanding or a poor communicator leads to stress and confusion. Other workplace situations that cause stress are:

• Uncomfortable or dangerous working conditions
• Conflict between staff
• Not being paid on time
• Unrealistic workloads
• Discrimination

Fostering a good company culture where you’ve chosen your management team carefully, don’t allow any discriminatory practices. Prioritize employee wellbeing to avoid any of these issues. For example, any member of your team should be able to come to you with their problems and feel they will be resolved. Furthermore, you can apply the principles of corporate wellbeing and enforce proper breaks, encourage meditation London and design the working environment with your staff in mind.

Don’t Pile On The Pressure

We’ve all seen it happen. An employee proves themselves capable, reliable and often goes above and beyond, so they are entrusted with more work. The quality never flounders, and the diligent employee says yes to every new task. The managers lean on them and other members of staff rely on their advice to complete their own jobs – and all this has happened without a formal promotion or pay rise.

What’s happened in this situation is that you have “rewarded” the employee with double everyone else’s workload, because they have proven they will take it on without complaint and complete everything to a brilliant standard. But why should someone have to work twice as hard as their colleagues, just because they have the highest employee engagement? The result will be someone who is at best disgruntled, and at worst burnt out – either leaving or having to take time off due to the stress.

If someone is taking on more responsibility, make sure this is reflected in their position and paycheck. If there’s no room in your organization at this moment for a promotion, then ensure that no employee (no matter how skilled) is unfairly burdened beyond their pay grade. Even the most obliging of people will not be happy with being taken for granted for long.

Show Your Appreciation

When a staff member’s work and output regularly exceeds the average, make sure they are recognized for their extra efforts. While you don’t want to annoy your other staff through apparent favoritism, you also want to make sure that your top talent knows that you appreciate how great their work is.

A word of praise can make a big difference to someone’s day, and if you don’t want to single them out too obviously – send it in an email. You could also, occasionally, give the afternoon off to someone who’s completed their allocated work in great time, or hand out gift vouchers or other rewards to recognize exceptional performance.

Give Employees Room To Advance

Talented employees are probably going to be invested in the idea of career progression, so make sure that they know that as your company grows, their role will grow within it. You could even use their high productivity to allocate time to their further leadership training. For example, if they tend to outstrip everyone in output of work, why not take them aside on a Friday afternoon for training sessions – preparing them for advancement in your company. You could even send them on a part-time course, if they express an interest.

If you want people to feel invested in your business you need to display a similar interest in them and their future, so making sure a good employee doesn’t stagnate and become bored is a great way to ensure their loyalty and enthusiasm.

Image from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjeoHZPhe0M